tigernut

I don't like the idea of them taking the money from me and giving it out, I would rather do this myself.

If I opt out of auto tipping will I get dirty looks?

As we are all well aware, tipping is a sensitive subject.

On most cruise lines, staff are made aware of the passengers who have removed the automatic gratuities. I was told by a staff member, that if a passenger removes the automatic gratuity and then subsequently pays individual members of staff in cash, that money has to be handed in. Is this true? I don't know the answer and I doubt if anyone else does either.

I have never felt it necessary to remove the automatic gratuities, as I have always received good service. I feel that if you are going to tip anyway, why not just leave the automatic gratuities in place.

I prefer to travel with cruise lines that include gratuities in the cost of the cruise. In my opinion, if all cruise lines adopted that system and paid the gratuities directly to the staff, it would resolve many of the current problems.

if arriivng to the ship i am always in a hotel the night before and taxi over..

 

if leavign the ship about 3 to 5 nights in-depending on lenght of cruise- there is a form in your cabin that asks several questions including do you have a transfer or do you want to buy one. if quotes the price on the form..

 

in Venice i used it and will in Southampton due to ride to airport.

so i would not worry about not having a transfer now for the return flight.

Hi Robin,

On all the previous Azamara cruises I have taken, a hotel, flights and transfers were included in the cost. This is the first time I have organised my own flights and I will travel straight from the airport to the ship.

I can of course, take a taxi in Istanbul, but a friend travelling alone in Turkey, had a very unpleasant experience and this has made me wary.

I am aware there may be the possibility of purchasing a return transfer while on board. On my last cruise on Quest, the only transfer option available for independent passengers was a tour, plus airport drop, for those with flights after 16.30.

I am exploring all options, but I would prefer to have pre-booked Azamara transfers.

Many thanks for your comments.

Yes, drop Mr. Twynam a line. You'll hear back from him or someone from his team.

Thanks for responding Bonnie.

Thank you for the replies

 

We do understand the tipping situation and the need for it, and have never reduced our 'standard' tips which, as stated, are for the cabin and restaurant staff. We have been told previously by a member of staff onboard that the bar staff are paid more than the restaurant/cabin staff which is why the tips are specifically requested for them.

 

We too have always given bar staff something, but not in the order of an extra £2 per person per day, (which would make a total of £6). I just seem to remember seeing something, (probably on this site), which referred to the bar staff getting less relating to the service of all inclusive drinks - but perhaps I have been dreaming!!

 

We will certainly give the bar staff something and will take some extra cash with us to ensure that it is possible to give them a larger sum if it is in order. It is easy to find out the situation when onboard - just wanted to be prepared.

I wasn't suggesting you contribute £2.00 per person per day for the bar staff.

On the last cruise on Balmoral, a group of us spent many hours in the Observatory bar and disco. We often kept the staff busy until the early hours. At the end of the cruise we felt we wanted to thank them for keeping us suitably refreshed throughout the holiday. We had a whip round and gave the bar manager the pot of money to share between the staff.

I have no idea if the bar staff get a lesser amount if they are serving passengers all inclusive drinks. None of our party had the drinks package, as it was not available when we booked. If you were able to take advantage of the £10.00 per person per night, it sounds a real bargain!

I cannot answer your specific query but the UK Managing Director has advised guests that they can email him for assistance when Guatamala has been unable to help.

 

His email address is rtwynam@azamaraclubcruises.com.

 

Other CC posters have reported that they had been assisted quickly by Mr Twynam and his team.

 

Hope this helps

Hi Spursgirl, I did see the email address on another thread, but I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to contact Mr Twynam and his team. I'll certainly give it a try.

Thanks for your help.

I am sure sure this topic has been raised before, but I have searched the site without finding a suitable answer.

On my last cruise on board Quest, I booked the next cruise for 1 November 2014. No flights were available at the time, so I went ahead and booked my own. Heathrow to Istanbul and Athens to Heathrow.

The Azamara website states that transfers can be arranged with them by speaking to Reservations and giving your flight numbers. It looks simple.

My big mistake was contacting Guatemala, who, I am sad to say, were no help. I was told, yes, it is possible to book transfers, but the guy I spoke to was not able to book them, or even give me a contact telephone number, or email address. After a lengthy phone call I admitted defeat.

Has anyone on the forum sucessfully booked Azamara transfers just recently? Could you please pass on your tips to enable me to book without further hassle. A telephone number or email address would be most helpful. Many thanks.

I seem to remember seeing something about all inclusive re tips on Fred's ships, but cannot find it now. I think it was that the bar staff do not get tips on all inclusive drinks, but they get a commission for drinks purchased onboard.

 

Am I dreaming something or was there something like that? If it was the case, does anyone know if it is still the case as Fred seem to be offering well priced all inclusive on all cruises now? We have normally given smallish amounts to bar staff at the end of a cruise, but are wondering what is the best now - perhaps something every couple of days. We are going in July and are all inclusive.

As far as I'm aware the 'All inclusive' drinks package at £10.00 p.p. per day, is merely that and it does not include gratuities. There is no 15% surcharge added to the overall cost of the drinks which you may have incurred on other cruise lines.

The payment of gratuties on board is purely optional, although a daily amount will automatically be added to your on board account. This can be removed or adjusted as you wish. The daily recommended amount for gratuities on Fred's ships is £2.00 p.p. per day for your room steward and £2.00 p.p. per day for your restaurant waiter.

All the staff on Fred's ships work incredibly hard and in my opinion fully deserve the recommended gratuities. On all the cruises I've sailed with Fred, I've never felt it necessary to remove or reduce the gratuities. In addition, if I've used particular bars most nights of the cruise , I will tip individual bar staff at the end of the cruise.

Have a great cruise!

We are on the same cruise as you Northern Boy, but haven't had our ticket yet. Which night is theme night? Also how smart does your theme wear need to be?

Excuse me jumping in and replying to a question posted for Northern Boy.

Theme nights are not meant to be smart, wear whatever you wish to match the theme. In the past on Fred's ships the themes were Rock 'n Roll, International, Nautical, Tropical and British nights and all were great fun. Just recently they seem to have dispensed with theme nights, which I feel is a shame, but they have retained 'British Night'. Participation is purely optional. Just wear something red white and blue if you are English. I've seen football shirts, Union Jack tee shirts, or simply a white top, red scarf and navy trousers. It takes hardly any effort and the staff appreciate it.

On the last cruise on Balmoral I wore a sequinned Union Jack dress, long white boots and a ginger wig. It gave everyone a good laugh. I've always dressed up to match the theme and other passengers probably think I'm slightly mad, but there again, I am!

The Welsh wear items adorned with the Welsh dragon, the Irish wear green and white with the shamrock and the Scots wear their kilts, or daft tartan caps with attached wigs. It's all a bit of fun and not meant to be a fashion parade.

Enjoy your cruise.

Hi folks, I have been trying online to find the current cruise, with ports of call, for the Boudicca, which left Avonmouth/Bristol yesterday. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks.

 

 

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Details from Fred's brochure are: - 14 June - Avonmouth, 18 June - Reykjavik, 19 June - Isafjordur & cruising Haelavikurbjang, Hornbjarg & Dranagaskord, 20 June - Akureyri, 23 June - Olden, 24 June - Flam & cruising Naeroyfjord, 25 June - Bergen, 28 June - Avonmouth.

I hope this helps; apologies if spelling is incorrect.

 

With all the talk on another thread on these posts, I have just received my eticket for my cruise on the 13th July on the Black Watch and it has a British night included. It's only a 7 night cruise so no room for any more.

 

Lets hope Fred is keeping the British night alive.

 

Rule Britannia!

 

Comments from other cruisers on upcoming cruises regarding if there are anymore theme nights or just the British night or if there weren't any would be appreciated.

I hope Fred does retain the theme nights, otherwise what will I do with the many fancy dress outfits I've gathered over the years? :(

Some of the operators in UK have already been offering 50% off 2nd passenger for Azamara cruises, (think of cold houses). I checked today and its a "free" flights deal at the moment. I can't say if it was a good deal as I'm a solo, so I didn't check it out.

 

Love your idea Phil of rewarding loyal customers :)

I book my Azamara cruises with the agent mentioned. I also travel as a solo passenger.

If you go into the 'Singles deals' section of the website, you can obtain Azamara solo prices right through to 2016. I must add that some are ridiculously expensive at the moment. I'm waiting for some more of the 25% solo supplement deals.

A possibly silly question, but then I'm new to Fred.

 

Are there any special offers for laundry on Fred's ships and if so what are they? I've made use of such offers with other lines, and it would be good to know before we start planning the packing.

 

Thanks in advance.

If you can be bothered to deal with your own laundry, there are passenger launderettes on board with washing machines, tumble driers and irons.

As Parsman has already said, I don't think F.O. have special offers for laundry, as I have never seen one. You should find a laundry price list in your cabin. The service is good and quite speedy.

I do realise less motion in the ocean lower down but all 25 cruises I've taken I've never been as low down. First time on azamara and a small ship so maybe I'm worrying too much. Thank you for your reply.

I think you are worrying far too much, as the cabins on deck 4 are fine. As other people have said the cabins are bigger than the obstructed view cabins. They are convenient for Guest Relations, Future Cruise Sales, Land Discoveries and the Concierge.

I travel as a single passenger, so the dimension of the cabin is not a major factor for me, but it could be for two sharing.

On two separate occasions on Quest, I was upgraded from an inside to an obstructed view cabin and both cabins were greatly obstructed and very dark.

On my last cruise I had a cabin on deck 3, the lowest passenger deck. It was the same size as those on the upper decks, with just a porthole, not a picture window. As we had a couple of days with rough seas, I was very grateful to be in the calmest part of the ship.

You will love Azamara, as the on board experience is second to none.

It is still listed among the wines on their web page

Yes, I did check the current list and I noticed it's still showing. Perhaps Azamara have had a problem with obtaining supplies.

Last year I made this document for myself. I searched for the complimentary wines and found some descriptions and reviews of the specific wines on Azamara Wine List. I found it helpful as I basically wouldn't remember all the descriptions after I got onboard anyway.

I removed the prices as they might be a bit misleading as to whether the wine is good or not. Hope it can be helpful for you all when choosing wines on board.

I've just downloaded your wine list. I sailed on Quest in March/April this year and on the first day I requested the Kato Sauvignon Blanc as it was my favourite wine on previous cruises. I was told by the bar manager that it isn't on the list any more and hasn't been for ages. I was disappointed.:(

I haven't checked if the other wines you listed are still available on board.

We will be boarding QM2 in Hamburg in june, and will have a whole day in Southampton while she takes on more passengers for a crossing. We are looking for ideas on how to best spend that day. We are not particularly interested in seeing Stonehenge again, but are thinking maybe Winchester, Windsor Castle or Salisbury. Don't know how far away any are from the cruise terminal. Any help would be appreciated.

I would agree with other recommendations, that the trip to either Winchester, or Salisbury would be the best option, both destinations are lovely cities and are just a short train ride away.

I used to live in Windsor and I don't think a day trip by train would be a viable option. The journey is more than 50 miles and you would spend a large part of the day travelling. You would need to travel from Southampton Central station, change at Reading, and change again at Slough to the local branch line that will take you to Windsor Central station. The return journey will take approximately 5 hours.

You could think about taking the train to London. The journey would take about 1 hour 20 mins in each direction.

Another suggestion is to take the ferry across the Solent to Cowes in the Isle of Wight. If you're interested in yachting, it would be a good choice.

Can a recent UK traveller please let me know if you get the 'sticky printed' bag tags still, or do we have to do the DIY Blue Peter ones?

Thanks.

In spite of making three online luggage tag requests for my recent Azamara cruise, they never arrived.

I resorted to the DIY option. Printed them off the website, laminated them and stapled them to the cases. They didn't look particularly attractive, but they survived the baggage handlers of American Airlines, and were still intact on arrival in Miami.

Hi Bonnie,

 

Actually is was me who raised the question, so many thanks for obtaining this information. We will ask on board. However, the late disembarkation sounds costly. Therefore I suspect we'll opt for the included transfer and store our luggage at the airport, then go back into town by bus.

 

Thanks, Joan

Hi, I recently flew back from Nice after an Azamara cruise. For any passenger with a flight booked for after 15.30, there was an option to take a tour of Nice, at a charge, and then be transported back to the airport.

Nice airport Terminal 1 has very few facilities and I would recommend storing your luggage at the airport and travelling back in to town. The left luggage charge per item is €14 and you have to present your airline ticket and a form of identification. I thought the charge was excessive.

This is the first I've heard of this problem too.

I've just done a bit of research and see that Bill wrote a blog post in September 2013 about this program:

http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/connect-share/blog/azamatter-of-fact-a-savvy-shoppers-user-guide/

According to this, the Open Passage is combinable and is not subject to any black-outs. Bill wrote "It’s offered on every published voyage on both vessels." And it does not say anything about being capacity-controlled.

So let me contact both offices (US & UK) to make sure it's being honored by the Reservation Staff as stated.

Bonnie, Thanks for taking this on board, we shall be very interested in your response.

When I had the problem with using the Open Passage certificate, I spoke for 45 minutes with a staff member in Guatemala, he had absolutely no knowledge of the existence of Open Passage certificates. I appreciate that the staff are new and still being trained, but I found the situation frustrating and unacceptable.

While I was on the recent Transatlantic on Quest, I mentioned to SarahLou, the Future Sales Specialist, that in my opinion, the on board staff are being sadly let down by those on shore side. She seemed to be well aware of the problems.

Thankfully, Captain Carl and his team were as wonderful as ever. - Jan

Thanks for your reply Jan and yes, we're just about fully recovered now. Just sorry we missed those last few nights in the Looking Glass, we had a great time there and everywhere else.

 

That comment from the Onshore team (via SarahLou) is very interesting as our Future Cruise Pass has been handed on (by Azamara) to our normal TA who is looking forward to finding us our next Azamara cruise.

 

There's no OBC associated with our certificate, just the reduction in cost of £200-£400 per stateroom depending on what category is booked and the duration of the cruise.

 

Frankly we had to visit the ship's shop to use up our Shareholders OBC, so I'd far rather have a reduction in cost than OBC on an "almost" all inclusive cruise. ;)

Hi David, :)

Thanks for your reply. I'm pleased you have both fully recovered.

I didn't have any OBC associated with my certificate either, but SarahLou did allow me a £300 discount for booking on board. I was also able to take advantage of the current promotion with an upgrade from an inside cabin to a balcony.

Azamara is my favourite cruise line, so there's every possibility we shall meet again on a future cruise. All the best - Jan

Very curious this and will be very interested in the reply from Azamara as we purchased one of these whilst on the recent TA on Quest and I've just read through the T's & C's and there's no mention of any restrictions at all.

 

When we booked this we were verbally advised that there are no restrictions on utilising this other than, fairly obviously, it must be on an Azamara ship.

 

Would be very disappointed to hear that there's an automatic price increase if you try to use this as that would take away all the benefit of purchasing this.

Hi Prefdavid, In the past, I have purchased Open Passage certificates several times and used them when booking Azamara cruises with a UK travel agent.

On the last occasion when I booked with the same agent, he would not accept my Open Passage certificate. His excuse was ' the cruise is a special offer.' After lengthy fruitless discussions, including a conversation with Guatemala, I gave up. I decided to book anyway and speak to the Future Cruise Specialist once on board.

I was also on the recent TA on Quest and I spoke to SarahLou to ask why the agent had refused to accept the Open Passage certificate. She spoke with the Onshore team who advised her that agents do not have to accept the certificates, it is at their discretion. It wasn't what I wanted to hear.

When on board the Transatlantic I booked another cruise and was able to use the Open Passage certificate for the deposit.

I still have another unused certificate and I got the impression the only way I could guarantee it's accepted, is to book directly with Azamara.

It would be very helpful if someone is able to clarify the situation.

I'm sure you will agree that we all had a great time on the TA, especially the late nights in the Looking Glass disco.

I hope you and your wife have recovered from the germs picked up on board/shore.

Regards, Jan

Casperthecat, we are also waiting to see what Azamara's intentions are regarding the Ukrainian ports as they are a key part of the Black Sea cruise for us too.

In fact if they delete them we will be cancelling. The problem though, is that decision has to be made by mid May and the situation doesn't look like settling down by then.

My friends tell me that we are mad to be even still considering going there but I see it as part of the adventure!!

Do join the roll call ( assuming that we are both talking about the 20 August sailing) and we can have further discussion on the situation as we await Azamara's intentions.

Darryl

 

 

 

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I've just returned from a TA on Quest. At the Q & A session with Captain Carl, he was asked about the situation regarding the Black Sea cruises. He replied that the ports have been changed for the June cruise, but, at present, no decision has been made regarding the cruises sailing later in the year.

We are going to ask them what they prefer, London, and explain that Balmoral (or Adonia) will probably not contain many, if any, young adults but WILL be all new ports for everyone.

 

This will be the first holiday together as a family for over two years so we are all very much looking forward to holidaying together, and the kids are delighted we are cruising again.

 

Jules, we've taken them on cruises since they were babies and they've grown up in and out of kids clubs and, particularly when teens, meeting and making good friends which they still keep in touch with. When on RCCI ships they spent time with us doing all the sporty stuff; RCCI is great for families. This will be the first time that they won't be attending kids clubs, and I am wondering how they will 'find' others their own age to spend time with.

 

They've both been working over the weekend so we will do a 'family' facebook chat tonight and discuss things.

 

Thanks to everyone who has replied, much appreciated.

Hi, I've sailed on Balmoral many times, it's my favourite ship in Fred's fleet. On the occasions when there have been teens and twenties on the ship, I've usually found that they spend most of the time with the young members of the entertainment team.

Thank you for posting such a comprehensive and informative review.

What power sockets are there on the Balmoral?

Do I need to take an adaptor for UK standard 3-pin and/or 2-pin plug

 

From the F.O. website - All our ships feature dual voltage - 110 volts requiring a US style flat 2 pin plug and 220 volts requiring a continental round 2 pin plug (both have a 60 volt cycle)

 

In my last cabin on Balmoral, there was a standard 3 pin UK socket, but the bottom of the socket was close to the desk surface and it wasn't suitable for some appliances with a thick flex.

 

To be on the safe side I would take a couple of adaptors.